摘要：Quantifying diet related responses of species is key for understanding their functional relationship with theirenvironment. Variation in its magnitude reflects differences in the adaptive value of spatial locations withinthe distributional range of a species. Amongst the key factors that may account for such variation, differencesin prey abundance are critical particularly for predatory species. In this paper, the relationship of the use ofpatches for foraging by B. augur with prey abundance in the Afro-alpine habitats of the BMNP was studied.Data on the frequency of usage of patches for foraging by B. augur and the abundance of suitable preyspecies was collected by having samples at three contrasting areas that reflect the overall variation in theAfro-alpine system. Classification of patches using prey abundance predicted their group membership alongwith the intensity of foraging by B. augur, which varied with very high significance. Two latent variates thatwere computed by linearly combining the abundance of prey species explained significantly B. augur’sforaging frequency significantly in a quadratic and linear regression models. The first variate that explainedmost of the group variation in prey abundance predicted the frequency of foraging by B. augur significantlyin a quadratic model that explained 66 % of the variation. This variate was mainly defined by the abundancesof A. blicki, L. melanonyx and O. bottae. The second variate with a smaller proportion of group variationcontributed significantly to the predictive value of a linear regression model that explained 77 % of thevariation in the data set. The discriminant scores of this variate were mainly contributed by A. blicki and S.albocaudata. Interpretation of our results indicated that A. bilicki along with S. albocaudata and L. melanonyxmay have played principal role in affecting B. augur’s foraging decisions across patches. Generally, in thispaper we determined the main prey species that affect the foraging behaviour of B. augur for the first timeand presented a body of information and interpretation essentially laying the foundation for furtherunderstanding of the species ecology in the BMNP and also in Ethiopia. The findings also assist the generalconservation effort in the NP and also initiatives that may specifically target B. augur.
